Crimson Twilight: Dusk
Chapter 51: Sacrifice
"Lord of Death!"
The Orc Hero pulled the black-shafted arrow out of his chest and broke it in defiance. All hope was surely gone now. The tribes have truly lost with the humans coming from the north and the Lord of Death's army of raydrics and coming from practically every other direction. "This is the end." he quietly admitted to himself. "However-!" He turned his back on the blacksmith he was fighting and charged towards the Lord of Death. "Lord of Death!" he roared.
Kreizen did not pursue the Orc Hero. He was in no condition to continue dueling with the orc anyway. Besides, that meant wading among the legions of raydrics that headed their way. He was no coward but he knew the difference between difficult and suicidal. 'So Lord of Death didn't just back off from the orc tribes after all.' he thought. He turned around only to find himself face to face with Eliarainne. "Eliarainne, what are you doing?" he asked. "We have to get back!"
Eliarainne smiled and let Bristle carry her forward slowly. She had removed her bone helm, the metal fins that jutted from the sides of her face and her iron cain. Her short, auburn hair fell limply to the sides of her face. What unnerved Kreizen the most were her red eyes. Even from a distance he couldn't help but notice them. "Get back?" she asked. "There is nothing inside Prontera that could entice me to just go back when all the fighting is out here."
Kreizen readied his axe. Something was very wrong here. "That's nonsense!" he said. "Now is not the time to fight! We have to regroup!"
Eliarainne continued to advance towards Kreizen. "Not the time to fight?" she asked. "It depends. This war…why are we fighting it?"
Kreizen's eyes narrowed. "Same reason why we fight any war, Rainne." he answered. "For peace!"
Eliarainne couched her lance to a killing position. "Peace?" she said. "Yes, I fight for peace but it's not the peace you know and understand!"
Kreizen took a step back. He had seen Eliarainne stare down opponents before. He had seen her break through a group of any monster imaginable in Rune-Midgard but she did not look intimidating before as she was now. Without any helmet; allowing her hair to sway gently to the wind, she really looked like the war goddess that her men referred to her as. Her eyes reminded him of a demon's. She continued to speak. Her voice was low and raspy and he had to strain just to hear them. "Peace is a state of mind." she said. "It's when you become content with everything around you; settling into some sort of harmony with your surroundings. Let's face it, Kreizen! I'm only ever truly at peace in the heat of combat!" She spurred Bristle faster. Her lance gleamed in the tiny amounts of morning light the storm clouds above them let through. Kreizen planted his feet on the ground and prepared to meet the charge. He had no idea why Eliarainne was going to attack him. Her words were frightening…what had happened to her? "Get out of my way, Kreizen, or I'll kill you too!" she roared.
Kreizen shook his head. "Rainne, something's wrong with you." he said. "I'm not letting you ride to your doom because you want it!"
Eliarainne's expression contorted in fury. Her red eyes flashed with strange, crimson light. "If you won't stand aside then die!"
Despite fighting for so long, Bristle charged at full speed. Eliarainne thrust her lance at Kreizen. He jumped aside to avoid the strike only to have the lance graze his right side.
'What the…?' Kreizen thought. 'How did she hit me there?' He clutched his bleeding side and turned to face Eliarainne. In a matter of seconds, she had maneuvered Bristle for another devastating charge. She was grinning fiercely now. He could see the pointed teeth and the unnatural-looking fangs. 'God, what the hell happened to her?"
Eliarainne charged again. This time, she swept her lance against the ground. Kreizen grit his teeth; the attack was going to come from below. He sidestepped the attack and swung the flat of his axe towards her. Suddenly, she dropped down to the side of her saddle; causing the two-handed axe to whistle harmlessly above her. As she rode past him, she switched to an upright position on her saddle. Before he could even recover from the first strike, she twisted her hips to maneuver Bristle; allowing her to face his back. Her lance thrust again; gashing his left side this time. "You're too slow, Kreizen!" she taunted. "You may as well just stand there while I lance you!"
Kreizen's mind raced as Eliarainne charged him again. How was he going to stop that charge if he can't even evade it? He met the charge head on; hoping to surprise her and get a solid blow in. He had to remove her from Bristle or he will never beat her.
"Head on?" Eliarainne sneered. "How painfully obvious!" Her lance struck Kreizen high on the chest; dealing another deep gash. Suddenly, she pulled it back and stabbed again; burying it into his left leg. He swung his axe only to have it deflected by her shield. She continued charging until she was a good distance from him.
Kreizen staggered to meet another charge. "Damn it!" he swore. "And that's the lance I forged for her!" He allowed himself a grim smile as she charged again. He would probably not survive this one. The lance sped towards his chest at an incredible speed.
And rebounded from someone's shield.
Eliarainne struggled to maintain her balance as her lance bounced from the shield. Bristle kept moving forward; forcing her to look back to see who the one who interfered. "Makaelthos." she whispered.
Makaelthos stood in front of Kreizen. His shield was dented in several places; revealing that he was in the thick of the fighting. Farther behind him was Khaesilya, who watched worriedly over her master. "Eliarainne, stop." he said.
Eliarainne's smile vanished with those words. She stared balefully at Makaelthos. "You're still saying that?" she asked. "Fine! Die as well!" She spurred her pecopeco harder. This crusader before her was a hateful source of her fury and misery. He had to die! The lust for carnage was disappearing inside of her; it was being replaced by a painful ache in her chest that intensified with each look at him. "I can't stand this…" she rasped. "Stop it!" She thrust her lance forward; striking Makaelthos's squarely in the middle. He allowed the blow to scrape against his shield and moved closer towards Bristle. His saber slashed towards her lance arm. The blow connected and exploded with holy power. She cried out in pain and fury. Her lance suddenly whipped about; tearing a gash on Makaelthos's right shoulder guard. The point grazed the his shoulder as well; causing it to bleed profusely.
"Eliarainne…holy power burns you like it does a demon but I refuse to believe that this is what you've become!" Makaelthos said. He advanced on Eliarainne. His saber started to glow with gathering holy energies.
Eliarainne started panting as she prepared for another charge. The pain in her chest had worsened when he struck her. 'He's wounded me!' she thought. 'It's…painful…so painful…' She charged again. This time, her lance was aimed directly towards the Makaelthos's chest.
Makaelthos's eyes narrowed as his saber began to glow with a brilliant, white light. One strike was all he needed to end this but it was the ending and its finality that scared him more than the oncoming lancing strike from his partner. 'I caused this.' he thought. 'I am such a fool.'
Eliarainne let out a battle cry as the lance struck. Makaelthos shouted as well and moved forward. From behind, both Kreizen and Khaesilya held their breath.
The lance's oridecon point punched through Makaelthos's shield. It punched through his plate armor and into his chest. It tore through flesh, bypassed bone and burst out of his back; missing his heart by a mere inch. The saber struck Eliarainne's shield and cleaved it in two. It cut into her full plate and buried itself into her side, between the gaps of armor near her armpit. The white light within the saber exploded into a flash of brilliance that engulfed both of them. On the ground, a massive cross began to form.
Eliarainne screamed as the light engulfed her. She could feel every inch of her skin burning up. The light seemed to get into her eyes; causing them to burn in their sockets. She felt her lance drop to the ground. All of a sudden, she felt very tired. 'What? What was I doing? I was…trying to kill Makaelthos? But I-' She clutched her head. Her mind felt like it was about to burst. She pitched forward from her mount. Before she completely passed out she felt herself being caught by a pair of armored arms. "Makaelthos." she whispered.
The Orc Hero made his way towards the Lord of Death. Around him, the remaining orcs rallied in one final attempt to clash against the raydrics. It was a hopeless battle. Already he could see one red high orc charge towards the advancing legion. Two raydrics immediately engaged it. The first one met its twin buster axes with a massive claymore. The second circled around the two before attacking from behind. The red high orc watched as its axes were dashed aside by the first raydric and then roared in pain as a claymore stabbed it from behind. Without hesitation, the first raydric moved in and decapitated it. After systematically dismembering the red high orc, the two raydrics moved back to their positions and continued to march without so much as missing a beat.
"This is the end for you, Orc Hero. Give up."
The Lord of Death's taunts only made the Orc Hero run faster. The humans were retreating to their city; leaving his troops to be slaughtered while they watched from their walls. The daunting figure of the Lord of Death beckoned for him to approach.
"Meet your end, Hero. No nobility, no honor, no glory…just the end."
The Lord of Death's massive, white mount moved forward. The ground around it trembled with each step the horse took. A long, silver lance, gracefully tapered into a single deadly point, shone in its right hand. In its left was a giant shield, as long as a man was tall, with a cross in the middle. The Orc Hero let out a powerful war cry. Only a few more feet separated him from the Lord of Death.
Suddenly, a black arrow whizzed from behind the Lord of Death, embedding itself into the Orc Hero's leg. He slowed only briefly as he felt the pain. In that brief moment, the Lord of Death was before him.
The Lord of Death caused its horse to leap towards the Orc Hero. The lance shone against the gray skies and descended.
The Orc Hero roared as the lance buried itself into his chest. The silver point emerged from his back with frightening ease.
"Your death will plunge your tribes into the depths of despair, Orc Hero. I shall spare a few of them if only to savor their misery. As for you, die and give me your essence, just as Maya and so many other immortals have."
The Orc Hero grasped the shaft of the lance and tried to pull himself up towards the Lord of Death, who remained impassive as his opponent went limp. It was over.
Behind the Lord of Death, the abysmal knights led its army towards the gates of Prontera itself. With the orc tribes practically annihilated, the real siege was about to begin.
"Eliarainne."
Makaelthos Solcry watched his partner worriedly as he held her limp form in his arms. He had healed his stab wound and now focused on her injuries. Healing energy flowed from him; causing the burns and cuts to vanish. To his relief she slowly woke up; revealing bright, hazel eyes instead of the fierce, red ones he had seen earlier. He held her tighter.
"Makaelthos." Eliarainne whispered. She reddened slightly when she awoke to find herself in Makaelthos's arms. The incredible fury and battle lust that drove her to relentlessly attack him and Kreizen earlier was gone now. The only emotion left was-
"I'm sorry." Makaelthos said. "I considered so many things that I failed to realize how it would affect you." He put Eliarainne back on her feet and held her by the shoulders. "I've allowed to Trynis to decide how I lived my life. Her hate would mean nothing if I had known I would do this to you."
Eliarainne quivered slightly as Makaelthos locked his arms around her. Despite his injuries, his embrace was firm yet gentle.
"Eliarainne, I love you too." Makaelthos said. "Ever since we met I've loved you. Fear kept me from saying that earlier. Only now have I realized that I shouldn't have been afraid."
Eliarainne blinked her tears away and returned Makaelthos's embrace. Instead of disappearing, the ache in her chest seemed to intensify. Her heart was racing; it was hard to think of anything right now. Even if an army of raydrics was quickly advancing towards them.
Kreizen Xalascent allowed himself to grin as he watched his two friends. "About time, damn it!" he said to himself. "I can't believe I had to get myself stabbed several times with a lance just to see them like this. Wait a minute-!" His eyes widened in horror as a warp portal emerged behind Eliarainne. From the portal stepped forth the massive figure of Baphomet and behind the demon was the Dark Lord.
"The presence is gone!" Baphomet roared. "You disappoint me, knight!"
Kreizen rushed towards the two. Even as he sprinted with all his might, he knew it would be too late. "Rainne!" he shouted. "Makaelthos! Watch out!"
Makaelthos looked up in time to see the scythe descend towards Eliarainne at terrifying speed. He pulled Eliarainne aside and stood over her protectively. The scythe sliced past hiss armor and lodged deep into his chest. Blood, bright red blood, splattered on Eliarainne's face and armor. Makaelthos looked down to see the scythe firmly lodged into his body. Instead of being horrified, he focused his gaze on the demon. "Baphomet…you did this to her!" he said. His saber flashed with white light once more as it struck the goat-demon on the chest. The light exploded into a cross-shaped blast that was far bigger than the last one.
Baphomet roared in fury as he pulled his scythe out. The light seared his demon flesh and began consuming it. He stepped back and waved his scythe about. The pain was horrible; it felt as if he was going to burn away with the light.
"Stand back, Baphomet!" the Dark Lord said. He gestured, causing a wave of darkness to surround the cross. Even as he did, a blur of movement suddenly registered from the corner of his sight. The blur headed towards the explosion. The darkness closed in and began to smother the light when a saber suddenly flew from the explosion. The Dark Lord screamed as the saber sank into his chest. More holy power exploded from the sword; burning away a good portion of his undead body. He pulled the sword out and tossed it aside. "It was a waste of time for us to appear here, Baphomet!" he cursed at the demon. "We must depart before the Lord of Death closes in on us!"
Still roaring, Baphomet emerged from the fading light. One of his horns had been reduced to a charred stump and a good portion of his fur had burned away. He glared at Eliarainne for one last time and stepped back into the portal.
"Makaelthos!" Eliarainne screamed. She recovered from her shock and rushed towards the light but, as the brilliance faded, Makaelthos had completely vanished. All that remained was his glowing saber. "Makaelthos…no…no!"
A heartrending wail rose above everything else, even Eliarainne's cry. She turned to see Khaesilya drop to the ground. Khaesilya's eyes remained open in a blank stare as she lay on the ground.
Kreizen lifted Khaesilya up and checked for signs of life. Finding her alive, he looked forlornly at Eliarainne's direction.
Eliarainne grasped the saber; tears flowed freely from her eyes now. "Makaelthos!" her cry resounded across the battlefield.
From near the southern gates, Silmeia heard the cry and turned to see where it came from. She immediately saw her friend, Eliarainne, holding a still glowing saber. At once, she realized what had happened. Even Agranias, who had retreated towards her, knew that Makaelthos had disappeared. "How could this have happened?" she said softly. "Makaelthos!" She burst into tears. She had failed again, this time it was Makaelthos who paid the price for her failure. She caught sight of the Lord of Death and her grief turned into rage. "You!" she shouted at the immortal. "I hate you! This is your doing! All of this!"
Agranias stared at the Lord of Death and then focused on Silmeia. 'He's coming.' he thought. 'This battle will be inevitable now.'
Kreizen grabbed hold of Eliarainne and tried to pull her up. The raydrics where getting closer. If they didn't retreat now, they would be overrun.
From Eliarainne's grip, the saber glowed faintly for a while.
And faded away.